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Backstage
at the Geffen

Backstage
at the Geffen

Backstage at the Geffen

Saturday, May 18, 2024

Backstage at the Geffen features surprise guests you’re sure to love. Inspiring playwrights, hilarious storytellers, and show-stopping headline performers make for an evening you won’t want to miss—all to benefit our incredible artistic and educational initiatives.

Experience the first Backstage at the Geffen show under the leadership of Oscar-winning Artistic Director Tarell Alvin McCraney and Executive Director / CEO Gil Cates, Jr.

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Sarah Weinberg
Chief Development Officer
310.208.6500 x140

Hosted By

TITLE SPONSOR

Jana & Trevor Bezdek


PRESENTING SPONSOR

The Adi and Jerry Greenberg Foundation

PLATINUM SPONSOR

PLATINUM SUPPORTERS

LINDA BERNSTEIN RUBIN & TONY RUBIN

GOLD SPONSOR

SILVER SPONSOR

HOSPITALITY SPONSORS

2024 Honorees

Colman Domingo

ARTISTIC IMPACT AWARD

Colman Domingo has been nominated for an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe, SAG, Tony, Critics Choice Award, Independent Spirit, Gotham Award, Lawrence Olivier, Drama Desk, Drama League award. He has won an Emmy, Astra, AAFCA, NAACP Image, and Black Reel Award. ​In 2023, Domingo starred as Civil Rights leader Bayard Rustin in Netflix and Higher Ground’s film Rustin for which he received an Academy Award nomination, Golden Globes, BAFTA, and SAG nomination. He can also be seen as “Mister” in the Warner Bros production of The Color Purple, which received a SAG Ensemble nomination and a NAACP award.

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Larissa FastHorse

TRAILBLAZERS AWARD

Larissa FastHorse (Sicangu Lakota Nation) is a 2020 MacArthur Fellow, award-winning writer/choreographer, and co-founder of Indigenous Direction, the nation’s leading consulting company for Indigenous arts and audiences. Larissa will be represented across the country in the 2023-2024 season with a revised book of the beloved Jerome Robbins Broadway musical, Peter Pan. She made her Broadway debut in the 2022-2023 season with her satirical comedy, The Thanksgiving Play making her the first known female, Native playwright to be produced on Broadway (second only to the great Lynne Riggs in the 1930s).

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HONORARY HOST COMMITTEE

Debbie Allen & Norm Nixon, Greg Berlanti, Calista Flockhart & Harrison Ford, Jazmyn Simon & DulÉ Hill, Cindy & Alan Horn, Gloria CalderÓn Kellett & David Kellett, Fay & Frank Mancuso, Madeline & Bruce Ramer

Thank You To Our Backstage at the Geffen 2024 Donors

Title Sponsor

  • Jana & Trevor Bezdek

Presenting Sponsor

  • The Adi† and Jerry Greenberg Foundation

Platinum Sponsor

  • UCLA Health

Platinum Supporters

  • Linda Bernstein Rubin† & Tony Rubin

Gold Sponsor

  • Paramount Pictures

Gold Supporters

  • Marcy Carsey
  • Cindy & Alan Horn

Silver Sponsor

  • City National Bank

Silver Supporters

  • Berlanti Family Foundation
  • Lauren Shuler Donner†
  • Patricia Glaser† & Sam Mudie
  • Holly Rice† & Vince Gilligan
  • Steve Tisch Foundation

Bronze Supporters

  • Capital Group
  • Ellyce R. Cooper & Barry Cohen / Sidley Austin LLP*
  • Louise & Dr. Brad† Edgerton
  • Dr. Paul & Patti Eisenberg
  • Susan & Mark† Fleischer
  • Bonnie E. Eskenazi† / Greenberg Glusker LLP
  • Marcy Gross
  • Noble & Jacquelynn Hansen
  • Richard† & Barbara Sherman
  • Miranda† & Brett Tollman
  • Marjorie & Joe Walsh

Supporters

  • Karen M. Hohman Almeida
  • Christina De Armond
  • Carol K. Block & Chancellor Gene D. Block†
  • Gil Cates, Jr.†
  • Hyura E. Choi
  • Dan Clivner
  • Anne Dougherty & David Dobrikin
  • MaryAnn & Irwin Gold
  • Mark & Molly Goldberg
  • Manuela & James Goren
  • Eric† & Samantha Heer
  • Sandra Krause & William Fitzgerald
  • Brian† & Renee Mann
  • Ali Meghdadi
  • Susan Oka
  • Olympus Theatricals
  • Daniel† & Soundis Passman
  • Gerald Sauer
  • Aurora & Marc† Weinstock

Advocates

  • Eva Aaronson—In Memory of Bucky Hazan
  • Geneses Abril
  • Samuel Baum
  • Ariel Bell
  • Noah Bean
  • Lauren Blumenfeld
  • Andrew Carlberg
  • Pilar Chayachinda
  • Mary Ann Cloyd†
  • Benedict Conran
  • Colleen Danaher
  • Merle Dandridge†
  • Julie & Don Davis
  • Jennifer L. Deck
  • Velani Dibba
  • Rogelio Douglas III
  • Chiedu Egbuniwe
  • Katherine & Eric Eshaghoff
  • Susan Nahley Fleishman†
  • Mila Flower & David Reeder
  • Victoria Fox & Mark Jacobson
  • Jeff Gardner
  • Ginny & Jeff Gendelman
  • Ann & Jim Gianopulos
  • Cheryl Francis Harrington
  • Flynn Hayward
  • Lynn James Heacox
  • Kristin Hoover
  • Lindsay Jenkins
  • Peter & Dorothy Katona
  • Ethan Kirschbaum
  • Carla Malden† & Norman Beil
  • Asia Martin
  • Tiffany Mayberry
  • John McCrite & Juan Lopez
  • E.P. McKnight
  • Michele Miner
  • Elyse M. Mirto
  • Yee Eun Nam
  • Julie Ouellette
  • Lise Ransdell & Eric Augusztiny
  • Richard Rico
  • Nina Sallinen
  • Chris T. Schmidt
  • Sharon Sharth & Mark Bryan
  • Michael Shayan
  • Michael Shepperd
  • Sandra & Irwin Sitkoff
  • Sarah Sturdivant
  • Akrosia & Bradley Snedeker
  • Josh Stamberg
  • Stewart Strandberg
  • The Tatasciore Family
  • Deborah Tavlin
  • Inger D. Tudor
  • Tara Turk-Haynes
  • Paul Wagar
  • Jamila Webb

Hospitality Sponsors

  • STK | The One Group
  • W Los Angeles – West Beverly Hills

† Geffen Playhouse Board of Directors | * Donors as of May 17, 2024

Support
Our Theater

Support
Our Theater

Geffen Playhouse has been a hub of the Los Angeles theater scene since opening its doors in 1995. Noted for its intimacy and celebrated for its world-renowned mix of classic and contemporary plays, provocative new works and second productions, the not-for-profit organization continues to present a body of work that has garnered national recognition. Proudly associated with UCLA, the Geffen maintains extensive education and community engagement programs, designed to involve young people and the community at large in the arts.

Donate Now

Support
Our Theater

Support
Our Theater

Geffen Playhouse has been a hub of the Los Angeles theater scene since opening its doors in 1995. Noted for its intimacy and celebrated for its world-renowned mix of classic and contemporary plays, provocative new works and second productions, the not-for-profit organization continues to present a body of work that has garnered national recognition. Proudly associated with UCLA, the Geffen maintains extensive education and community engagement programs, designed to involve young people and the community at large in the arts.

Donate Now

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